I thought I'd share a Holiday Cube draft I did today, because I really liked the deck I ended up with, and it made great use of some cards that may be off some people's radar.
Another fairly weak pack. I like Tangle Wire a lot, and it's another colorless card giving me maximum flexibility after two picks, but in powered Cube it's not at its best (I think). Arguments could be made for Gilded Lotus and Courser, but I chose to go for the card that's always rock-solid in Bolt.
The choice here is between the Volcanic (picking Tundra doesn't make much sense given what I already have), Fauna Shaman and Ophiomancer, and I think that both creatures are only mediocre and mana fixing is awesome, so it's a fairly easy pick IMO.
Blade Splicer is really good, Rift Bolt is unexciting but on-color. It was probably a mistake to take the Bolt here (even though the Splicer wouldn't have made the final deck and the Bolt did).
This is a very strong pack. Channel is ultra-powerful, but not easy to build around. I wouldn't fault anyone for taking it here and trying to build a green/artifact Ramp deck. Alesha and Mana Confluence would lead me into multi-color aggro decks, which can be good but require a lot to go right (both in the draft and in the games). Finally, Yawgmoth's Will and Timetwister fill similar roles in a deck with many burn spells (as mine is shaping up to be), and since I already have Time Walk, Timetwister it is.
A Kozilek for the person we just passed Channel to, two great Green cards and also a Living Death... This pack must have been insane. For us, there's nothing really interesting, but Bloodstained Mire fetches our Volcanic, so it's still a good pick-up.
Since I already have Timetwister and Library, I think it's right to value burn spells a little bit higher. Taking the Sylvan Library and jumping into Green (which clearly is very open) would also be a good option, but that would require us to commit to take fixing a bit higher than usual in the next packs. I don't think Sylvan Library is good enough to make that commitment, although it's close.
I'm starting to really regret not being in Green at this point, since a 9th Zenith is really late. I hesitated until the last second between Factory and Top, and I'm still not sure what's the best pick here. Since I have one shuffle effect and one colorless land already, Top was probably better after all, but the Factory was very solid in the games, so it's certainly not a disaster either way.
Boom. Shrine is probably the 2nd best card in the Cube for the deck we appear to be drafting, and getting it this late solidifies us in Red, likely a creature-light, burn-heavy version of the deck.
Hmm... if nobody wants Will, that means Storm is open. A lot will have to happen before we get a playable Storm deck, but it's possible.
Pack 1 pick 15: Natural Order
I really don't think it's right to ever take Nissa (as good as it is) over NO (at least not in pack 1), but that's what our Green drafter apparently did. I guess we won't get blown out by T3 Woodfall Primuses this draft.
Looking back at the draft and seeing how many crucial cards for the Storm archetype I already have, I should have taken Demonic Tutor here, with Empty almost certainly coming back. I tend to overvalue mana fixing in Cube draft, and I think this pick is a symptom of that. I'm not sure how good the Storm deck would have ended up, but this was a golden opportunity to try it (again...).
If I had taken the Tutor with the previous pick, I would have a choice here between picking up the Monolith and hoping the Brain Freeze would table, or just making sure of the best kill condition in the Storm deck right away. Since I didn't, and the Monolith doesn't really work with, another Burn spell is fine too.
It's between the two burn spells here, and since it seems likely the other one will come back, it doesn't matter that much which one we take now. I went with Char because I already have a "deal 2" in Firebolt, and it's good to be able to kill slightly larger creatures.
This is a weird pick in hindsight. I have no White cards yet and one way to splash for it already, and both Searing Spear and the Satyr would be good additions to the draft (with the Satyr probably being the correct pick with so man burn spells already in the bag).
Normally Hellrider would be the best card for a Red deck by a mile, but I have exactly zero creatures right now. I'm not quite sure if I'm supposed to take little Jace here, but I'm not very Blue at this point and Searing Blaze is a really good burn spell.
As fun as copying Time Walk with Dualcaster Mage sounds, I just don't think the card is consistent enough to play. Chandra fits very well into the deck, since I currently have a million burn spells and no expensive cards. There's also a nice Ritual for the Storm deck I'm not drafting.
My first creature! I briefly thought about picking Elspeth, but it's not worth it to pick a double-White card at this point. I certainly don't need the Signet either. I also have an eye on the Scepter, but currently I only have two targets for it, so I think Figure is the right pick.
The Empty came back, and here I did take it. It's possible that Augur is better as an early blocker that will almost always get me a spell, but it's a low-impact card in a powered environment, so I don't think I'll ever miss it.
I think I didn't realize at the time how close I was to drafting Storm, still. I took the Pestermite on the off chance that I'd get Kiki or Twin in pack 3, but Brain Freeze clearly is the better speculative pick here.
Luckily I'm not punished for the strange Plateau pick earlier, and I get another one-drop creature. My gameplan is very clear now: deal some early damage with creatures and then start aiming burn at the opponent's head.
Pack 2 pick 15: Isochron Scepter
So lucky! The Scepter didn't look like it was going to fit in my deck the first time around, but I picked up two amazing targets since then, and there's an entire pack left to look for the 5th cheap instant (which I think is what you need to make Scepter playable).
It's reasonably clear this deck doesn't want an off-color Mox, so I almost auto-picked Koth here, since he's extremely strong in any heavy-red deck, but then I realized that my deck was full of cheap instants and sorceries, including Time Walk and I already had two ways to splash White, so if there was ever a time to pick up Monastery Mentor and go all broken-Vintage-deck with it, this was it.
Several cards I would like to play here, and I'm particularly curious about how good Narset would have been in a deck like this (probably amazingly well I suspect), but there's a Jace and I have Blue mana in my deck, so...
Delver is normally hard to make work in Cube, but my deck is almost literally only cards that flip him, and I can really use another one-drop creature. Force of Will is a consideration, but I don't have that many Blue cards yet, so I think Delver is a solid pick here.
Geist and Treasure Cruise are probably very strong in my deck as well, but since it's powered Cube, I think Dack is the correct pick here. Stealing an artifact with him is such a big swing, and I can use him to dig for burn otherwise.
It's possible Phantasmal Image is the right pick here, but I won't often copy my own creatures and I sort of need another cheap instant for Scepter, so I took Incinerate. Burn spells do have natural synergy with each other after all.
It's tempting to take Unexpectedly Absent here, since it's obscene under a Scepter, but it's double White and I don't really have that much fixing. Tarn is exactly that, and also a shuffle effect for Jace & Ponder, so it's definitely the correct pick.
I've picked up a lot of Blue cards in the last pack, so FoW is now great in my deck. Having one way to stop a broken play is often enough in this format, and my deck is set-up very well to deal with the card disadvantage.
I managed to go 3-0 with this deck, in three hard-fought matches (either 6-3 or 6-2 in games, not 100% sure anymore).
I drew one total card of LoA and cast Timetwister once, both in the same game, which I lost.
I only drew Mentor once, and used it to create a chump blocker immediately (so that my 1-counter Jace wouldn't die), then killed the oppponent (who was on 25) the very next turn by chaining some cantrips into Time Walk. If anyone is running a powered Cube without Monastery Mentor, they are doing it wrong.
In that same game I put Fire//Ice under Scepter and activated it about seven times. I drew Scepter two more times. Once I put a burn spell under it and forced a concession (in a game I was probably going to win anyway), the other time I cast it on T4, used it to cast Searing Blaze to kill a guy, after which it was eaten by an Oblivion Ring. Scepter is by no means a must-play at any Cube size, but it's certainly a fine card if you support any kind of "Spells Matter" archetype. You can almost always afford to delay playing it until you have 4 mana and can immediately activate it, so there's no real risk of getting blown out.
Shrine of Burning Rage was the best card in the deck (well, not really, but it was responsible for the most wins). Once it's in play, your opponent has to either remove it (and killing an artifact is not that easy in this Cube) or kill you really fast (which is not easy to do against a deck full of burn spells). It wins games you have no business winning, just like Sulfuric Vortex (which is better, but not by that much) does.
Jace was Jace (i.e. the real best card in the deck).
Dack didn't do anything special. It stole a not-very-crucial Mox once and looted a couple of times. That's still a very good deal for a 3-mana spell, of course.
The deck was extremely fun to play; I definitely recommend supporting this deck style in your Cube.
Having fun Cubing, and let me know if you have any comments!
Let's jump right in.
Pack 1 pick 1:
- Emeria Angel
- Journey to Nowhere
- Mulldrifter
- Show and Tell
- Nezumi Shortfang
- Makeshift Mannequin
- Daretti, Scrap Savant
- Prophetic Flamespeaker
- Green Sun's Zenith
- Gaea's Cradle
- Library of Alexandria
- Mishra's Factory
- Caves of Koilos
- Sensei's Divining Top
- Thran Dynamo
Library is one of the top-10 cards in this Cube, and the pack is otherwise weak. A nice way to start.Pack 1 pick 2:
- Wall of Omens
- Angel of Serenity
- Jace, Architect of Thought
- Momentary Blink
- Diabolic Edict
- Massacre Wurm
- Lightning Bolt
- Stromkirk Noble
- Courser of Kruphix
- Craterhoof Behemoth
- Jeskai Ascendancy
- Tangle Wire
- Shadowmage Infiltrator
- Gilded Lotus
Another fairly weak pack. I like Tangle Wire a lot, and it's another colorless card giving me maximum flexibility after two picks, but in powered Cube it's not at its best (I think). Arguments could be made for Gilded Lotus and Courser, but I chose to go for the card that's always rock-solid in Bolt.Pack 1 pick 3:
- Exalted Angel
- Faith's Fetters
- Time Walk
- Hypnotic Specter
- Necropotence
- Shrine of Burning Rage
- Jackal Pup
- Birthing Pod
- Krosan Grip
- Progenitus
- Skullclamp
- Memory Jar
- Electrolyze
Oh, hello there Time Walk.Pack 1 pick 4:
- Silverblade Paladin
- Land Tax
- Repeal
- Ophiomancer
- Oona's Prowler
- Seething Song
- Monastery Swiftspear
- Harmonize
- Fauna Shaman
- Tundra
- Phyrexian Revoker
- Volcanic Island
The choice here is between the Volcanic (picking Tundra doesn't make much sense given what I already have), Fauna Shaman and Ophiomancer, and I think that both creatures are only mediocre and mana fixing is awesome, so it's a fairly easy pick IMO.Pack 1 pick 5:
- Blade Splicer
- Awakening Zone
- Gatekeeper of Malakir
- Bazaar of Baghdad
- Rift Bolt
- Magus of the Moon
- Avacyn's Pilgrim
- Beast Within
- Adarkar Wastes
- Scrubland
- Woodland Cemetery
Blade Splicer is really good, Rift Bolt is unexciting but on-color. It was probably a mistake to take the Bolt here (even though the Splicer wouldn't have made the final deck and the Bolt did).Pack 1 pick 6:
- Student of Warfare
- Timetwister
- Yawgmoth's Will
- Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
- Channel
- Garruk, Caller of Beasts
- Mana Confluence
- Kiora, the Crashing Wave
- Qasali Pridemage
- Pentad Prism
This is a very strong pack. Channel is ultra-powerful, but not easy to build around. I wouldn't fault anyone for taking it here and trying to build a green/artifact Ramp deck. Alesha and Mana Confluence would lead me into multi-color aggro decks, which can be good but require a lot to go right (both in the draft and in the games). Finally, Yawgmoth's Will and Timetwister fill similar roles in a deck with many burn spells (as mine is shaping up to be), and since I already have Time Walk, Timetwister it is.Pack 1 pick 7:
- Ajani, Caller of the Pride
- Geralf's Messenger
- Living Death
- Natural Order
- Nissa, Worldwaker
- Bloodstained Mire
- Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
- Baleful Strix
- Abrupt Decay
A Kozilek for the person we just passed Channel to, two great Green cards and also a Living Death... This pack must have been insane. For us, there's nothing really interesting, but Bloodstained Mire fetches our Volcanic, so it's still a good pick-up.Pack 1 pick 8:
- Isamaru, Hound of Konda
- Academy Ruins
- Faithless Looting
- Firebolt
- Sylvan Library
- Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
- Gruul Signet
- Savannah
Since I already have Timetwister and Library, I think it's right to value burn spells a little bit higher. Taking the Sylvan Library and jumping into Green (which clearly is very open) would also be a good option, but that would require us to commit to take fixing a bit higher than usual in the next packs. I don't think Sylvan Library is good enough to make that commitment, although it's close.Pack 1 pick 9:
- Emeria Angel
- Journey to Nowhere
- Nezumi Shortfang
- Green Sun's Zenith
- Mishra's Factory
- Caves of Koilos
- Sensei's Divining Top
I'm starting to really regret not being in Green at this point, since a 9th Zenith is really late. I hesitated until the last second between Factory and Top, and I'm still not sure what's the best pick here. Since I have one shuffle effect and one colorless land already, Top was probably better after all, but the Factory was very solid in the games, so it's certainly not a disaster either way.Pack 1 pick 10:
- Wall of Omens
- Angel of Serenity
- Momentary Blink
- Diabolic Edict
- Jeskai Ascendancy
- Gilded Lotus
Not much for us here, but we're poised to have a lot of spells in our final deck, so Ascendancy could maybe be good?Pack 1 pick 11:
- Exalted Angel
- Shrine of Burning Rage
- Birthing Pod
- Progenitus
- Memory Jar
Boom. Shrine is probably the 2nd best card in the Cube for the deck we appear to be drafting, and getting it this late solidifies us in Red, likely a creature-light, burn-heavy version of the deck.Pack 1 pick 12:
- Silverblade Paladin
- Land Tax
- Seething Song
- Harmonize
I don't expect to play this, but it's a possibility if we somehow end up with several 5-drops or in a Storm deck.Pack 1 pick 13:
- Bazaar of Baghdad
- Beast Within
- Adarkar Wastes
Getting the option to splash White is nice, the other cards are not playable anyway.Pack 1 pick 14:
- Yawgmoth's Will
- Qasali Pridemage
Hmm... if nobody wants Will, that means Storm is open. A lot will have to happen before we get a playable Storm deck, but it's possible.Pack 1 pick 15:
Natural Order
I really don't think it's right to ever take Nissa (as good as it is) over NO (at least not in pack 1), but that's what our Green drafter apparently did. I guess we won't get blown out by T3 Woodfall Primuses this draft.
Pack 2 pick 1:
- Restoration Angel
- Sun Titan
- Augur of Bolas
- Empty the Warrens
- Inquisition of Kozilek
- Demonic Tutor
- Imperial Recruiter
- Gore-House Chainwalker
- Survival of the Fittest
- Master of the Wild Hunt
- Glacial Fortress
- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- Huntmaster of the Fells
- Windswept Heath
- Sulfur Falls
Looking back at the draft and seeing how many crucial cards for the Storm archetype I already have, I should have taken Demonic Tutor here, with Empty almost certainly coming back. I tend to overvalue mana fixing in Cube draft, and I think this pick is a symptom of that. I'm not sure how good the Storm deck would have ended up, but this was a golden opportunity to try it (again...).Pack 2 pick 2:
- Leonin Relic-Warder
- Baneslayer Angel
- Pestermite
- Brain Freeze
- Nezumi Graverobber
- Volrath's Stronghold
- Chain Lightning
- Burning of Xinye
- Joraga Treespeaker
- Sulfurous Springs
- Breeding Pool
- Siege Rhino
- Dragonlord Silumgar
- Grim Monolith
If I had taken the Tutor with the previous pick, I would have a choice here between picking up the Monolith and hoping the Brain Freeze would table, or just making sure of the best kill condition in the Storm deck right away. Since I didn't, and the Monolith doesn't really work with, another Burn spell is fine too.Pack 2 pick 3:
- Fiend Hunter
- Day of Judgment
- Meloku the Clouded Mirror
- Gitaxian Probe
- Corpse Dance
- Char
- Song of the Dryads
- Thrun, the Last Troll
- Mishra's Workshop
- Boros Signet
- Bloodbraid Elf
- Selesnya Signet
- Fire//Ice
It's between the two burn spells here, and since it seems likely the other one will come back, it doesn't matter that much which one we take now. I went with Char because I already have a "deal 2" in Firebolt, and it's good to be able to kill slightly larger creatures.Pack 2 pick 4:
- War Priest of Thune
- Ravages of War
- Mental Misstep
- Gifts Ungiven
- Tombstalker
- Putrid Imp
- Searing Spear
- Firedrinker Satyr
- Lotus Cobra
- Tarmogoyf
- Ancient Tomb
- Plateau
This is a weird pick in hindsight. I have no White cards yet and one way to splash for it already, and both Searing Spear and the Satyr would be good additions to the draft (with the Satyr probably being the correct pick with so man burn spells already in the bag).Pack 2 pick 5:
- Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- Jace Beleren
- Palinchron
- Brain Maggot
- Searing Blaze
- Hellrider
- Elves of Deep Shadow
- Indrik Stomphowler
- Sphinx's Revelation
- Boros Charm
- Duplicant
Normally Hellrider would be the best card for a Red deck by a mile, but I have exactly zero creatures right now. I'm not quite sure if I'm supposed to take little Jace here, but I'm not very Blue at this point and Searing Blaze is a really good burn spell.Pack 2 pick 6:
- Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- Wrath of God
- Gush
- Dark Confidant
- Dark Ritual
- Dualcaster Mage
- Chandra, Pyromaster
- Oath of Druids
- Lotus Bloom
- Masticore
As fun as copying Time Walk with Dualcaster Mage sounds, I just don't think the card is consistent enough to play. Chandra fits very well into the deck, since I currently have a million burn spells and no expensive cards. There's also a nice Ritual for the Storm deck I'm not drafting.Pack 2 pick 7:
- Flickerwisp
- Elspeth, Knight-Errant
- Murderous Cut
- Bonfire of the Damned
- Rakdos Cackler
- Figure of Destiny
- Tidehollow Sculler
- Isochron Scepter
- Izzet Signet
My first creature! I briefly thought about picking Elspeth, but it's not worth it to pick a double-White card at this point. I certainly don't need the Signet either. I also have an eye on the Scepter, but currently I only have two targets for it, so I think Figure is the right pick.Pack 2 pick 8:
- Ponder
- Puppeteer Clique
- Necromancy
- Ancient Grudge
- Garruk, Primal Hunter
- Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- Dragonlord Atarka
- Verdant Catacombs
Ponder is a fine addition to the deck, and there's nothing else for us, so this is an easy one.Pack 2 pick 9:
- Sun Titan
- Augur of Bolas
- Empty the Warrens
- Inquisition of Kozilek
- Imperial Recruiter
- Survival of the Fittest
- Glacial Fortress
The Empty came back, and here I did take it. It's possible that Augur is better as an early blocker that will almost always get me a spell, but it's a low-impact card in a powered environment, so I don't think I'll ever miss it.Pack 2 pick 10:
- Leonin Relic-Warder
- Pestermite
- Brain Freeze
- Volrath's Stronghold
- Burning of Xinye
- Siege Rhino
I think I didn't realize at the time how close I was to drafting Storm, still. I took the Pestermite on the off chance that I'd get Kiki or Twin in pack 3, but Brain Freeze clearly is the better speculative pick here.Pack 2 pick 11:
- Gitaxian Probe
- Corpse Dance
- Mishra's Workshop
- Bloodbraid Elf
- Fire//Ice
Fire//Ice came back, which is perfect. I would also be fine with a Gitaxian Probe, but the split card is strictly better in my current deck.Pack 2 pick 12:
- War Priest of Thune
- Mental Misstep
- Putrid Imp
- Firedrinker Satyr
Luckily I'm not punished for the strange Plateau pick earlier, and I get another one-drop creature. My gameplan is very clear now: deal some early damage with creatures and then start aiming burn at the opponent's head.Pack 2 pick 13:
- Palinchron
- Indrik Stomphowler
- Boros Charm
Hey, now I have a reason to put the White duals in my deck!Pack 2 pick 14:
- Dualcaster Mage
- Masticore
Maybe copying a Time Walk may still happen?Pack 2 pick 15:
Isochron Scepter
So lucky! The Scepter didn't look like it was going to fit in my deck the first time around, but I picked up two amazing targets since then, and there's an entire pack left to look for the 5th cheap instant (which I think is what you need to make Scepter playable).
Pack 3 pick 1:
- Monastery Mentor
- Mana Tithe
- Venser, Shaper Savant
- Preordain
- Shriekmaw
- Griselbrand
- Through the Breach
- Koth of the Hammer
- Fyndhorn Elves
- Mox Emerald
- Hallowed Fountain
- Hinterland Harbor
- Grove of the Burnwillows
- Horizon Canopy
- Bayou
It's reasonably clear this deck doesn't want an off-color Mox, so I almost auto-picked Koth here, since he's extremely strong in any heavy-red deck, but then I realized that my deck was full of cheap instants and sorceries, including Time Walk and I already had two ways to splash White, so if there was ever a time to pick up Monastery Mentor and go all broken-Vintage-deck with it, this was it.Pack 3 pick 2:
- Porcelain Legionnaire
- Path to Exile
- Jace, the Mind Sculptor
- Impulse
- Iona, Shield of Emeria
- Burst Lightning
- Wasteland
- Stunted Growth
- Whisperwood Elemental
- Narset Transcendent
- Boros Reckoner
- Rootbound Crag
- Nevinyrral's Disk
- Kuldotha Forgemaster
Several cards I would like to play here, and I'm particularly curious about how good Narset would have been in a deck like this (probably amazingly well I suspect), but there's a Jace and I have Blue mana in my deck, so...Pack 3 pick 3:
- Soldier of the Pantheon
- Oblivion Ring
- Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
- Force of Will
- Buried Alive
- Firestorm
- Delver of Secrets
- Yavimaya Elder
- Punishing Fire
- Winter Orb
- Xenagos, the Reveler
- Scroll Rack
- Sundering Titan
Delver is normally hard to make work in Cube, but my deck is almost literally only cards that flip him, and I can really use another one-drop creature. Force of Will is a consideration, but I don't have that many Blue cards yet, so I think Delver is a solid pick here.Pack 3 pick 4:
- Ajani Goldmane
- Banishing Light
- Treasure Cruise
- Go for the Throat
- Grave Titan
- Goblin Welder
- Wildfire
- Oracle of Mul Daya
- Wolfir Silverheart
- Geist of Saint Traft
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
- Dack Fayden
Geist and Treasure Cruise are probably very strong in my deck as well, but since it's powered Cube, I think Dack is the correct pick here. Stealing an artifact with him is such a big swing, and I can use him to dig for burn otherwise.Pack 3 pick 5:
- Mirran Crusader
- Enlightened Tutor
- Phantasmal Image
- Mystical Tutor
- Bloodsoaked Champion
- Incinerate
- Mox Diamond
- Villainous Wealth
- Lightning Greaves
- Voice of Resurgence
- Pernicious Deed
It's possible Phantasmal Image is the right pick here, but I won't often copy my own creatures and I sort of need another cheap instant for Scepter, so I took Incinerate. Burn spells do have natural synergy with each other after all.Pack 3 pick 6:
- Secure the Wastes
- Spell Pierce
- Fact or Fiction
- Disfigure
- Bloodghast
- Siege-Gang Commander
- Crucible of Worlds
- Isolated Chapel
- Pithing Needle
- Izzet Charm
I don't particularly need another 4-mana spell, but FoF is still a stupidly good card.Pack 3 pick 7:
- Unexpectedly Absent
- Hero's Downfall
- Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
- Avalanche Riders
- Woodfall Primus
- Simic Signet
- Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
- Drowned Catacomb
- Scalding Tarn
It's tempting to take Unexpectedly Absent here, since it's obscene under a Scepter, but it's double White and I don't really have that much fixing. Tarn is exactly that, and also a shuffle effect for Jace & Ponder, so it's definitely the correct pick.Pack 3 pick 8:
- Weathered Wayfarer
- Parallax Wave
- Turnabout
- Duress
- Entomb
- Pattern of Rebirth
- Terminate
- Steam Vents
More fixing, which is perfect of course.Pack 3 pick 9:
- Mana Tithe
- Preordain
- Through the Breach
- Fyndhorn Elves
- Hinterland Harbor
- Grove of the Burnwillows
- Horizon Canopy
Another great late pick-up.Pack 3 pick 10:
- Impulse
- Iona, Shield of Emeria
- Stunted Growth
- Boros Reckoner
- Rootbound Crag
- Kuldotha Forgemaster
Is there such a thing as too many cantrips? Probably not once you have Delver of Secrets and Monastery Mentor in your deck.Pack 3 pick 11:
- Force of Will
- Buried Alive
- Punishing Fire
- Xenagos, the Reveler
- Scroll Rack
I've picked up a lot of Blue cards in the last pack, so FoW is now great in my deck. Having one way to stop a broken play is often enough in this format, and my deck is set-up very well to deal with the card disadvantage.Pack 3 pick 12:
- Ajani Goldmane
- Goblin Welder
- Wildfire
- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Not playing any of those cards, probably not losing to any of them either.Pack 3 pick 13:
- Mirran Crusader
- Enlightened Tutor
- Mystical Tutor
Nice, but my deck is so redundant at this point that I don't think this will make the deck.Pack 3 pick 14:
- Disfigure
- Izzet Charm
Another nice little pick up, I didn't put it in the main deck, but I sided it in twice and it was a solid card.Pack 3 pick 15:
Drowned Catacomb
The final deck:
- Delver of Secrets
- Figure of Destiny
- Firedrinker Satyr
- Monastery Mentor
- Lightning Bolt
- Firebolt
- Chain Lightning
- Ponder
- Preordain
- Incinerate
- Searing Blaze
- Fire//Ice
- Impulse
- Boros Charm
- Time Walk
- Rift Bolt
- Char
- Timetwister
- Fact or Fiction
- Force of Will
- Dack Fayden
- Jace, the Mind Sculptor
- Isochron Scepter
- Shrine of Burning Rage
- Volcanic Island
- Plateau
- Steam Vents
- Bloodstained Mire
- Scalding Tarn
- Adarkar Wastes
- Sulfur Falls
- Mishra's Factory
- Library of Alexandria
- Mountain
- Mountain
- Mountain
- Mountain
- Island
- Island
- Island
I managed to go 3-0 with this deck, in three hard-fought matches (either 6-3 or 6-2 in games, not 100% sure anymore).I drew one total card of LoA and cast Timetwister once, both in the same game, which I lost.
I only drew Mentor once, and used it to create a chump blocker immediately (so that my 1-counter Jace wouldn't die), then killed the oppponent (who was on 25) the very next turn by chaining some cantrips into Time Walk. If anyone is running a powered Cube without Monastery Mentor, they are doing it wrong.
In that same game I put Fire//Ice under Scepter and activated it about seven times. I drew Scepter two more times. Once I put a burn spell under it and forced a concession (in a game I was probably going to win anyway), the other time I cast it on T4, used it to cast Searing Blaze to kill a guy, after which it was eaten by an Oblivion Ring. Scepter is by no means a must-play at any Cube size, but it's certainly a fine card if you support any kind of "Spells Matter" archetype. You can almost always afford to delay playing it until you have 4 mana and can immediately activate it, so there's no real risk of getting blown out.
Shrine of Burning Rage was the best card in the deck (well, not really, but it was responsible for the most wins). Once it's in play, your opponent has to either remove it (and killing an artifact is not that easy in this Cube) or kill you really fast (which is not easy to do against a deck full of burn spells). It wins games you have no business winning, just like Sulfuric Vortex (which is better, but not by that much) does.
Jace was Jace (i.e. the real best card in the deck).
Dack didn't do anything special. It stole a not-very-crucial Mox once and looted a couple of times. That's still a very good deal for a 3-mana spell, of course.
The deck was extremely fun to play; I definitely recommend supporting this deck style in your Cube.
Having fun Cubing, and let me know if you have any comments!
A Comprehensive list of Cube Archetypes